We've made the case on the FootballScoop Pod a time or two already now that the 2024 Florida Gators may have the single toughest schedule in college football history.
Coming off 6-7 and 5-7 finishes in his first two seasons, Billy Napier and the Gators open their season against Miami in a game that well tell football fans a lot about each program.
11 of Florida's opponents are Power Five teams. 9 teams are ranked in the preseason Top 25, including six their last seven games that include @ Tennessee, @ Georgia, @ Texas, home against LSU and Ole Miss and then the season finale at in-state rival Florida State.
All of those teams we've just rattled off, aren't just top 25 teams, they're ranked among the top 15 in the country as we sit here in Week Zero.
While it may not seem like it, there are plenty of folks who believe in this Gators squad, and seeming to lead that charge is the Head Ball Coach himself.
Talking with some local media about the how the SEC is shaping up in his eyes, Steve Spurrier identified Alabama, Georgia and Texas as the top three teams.
Spurrier then predicted Napier to lead Florida to a fifth or sixth place finish in the rough-and-tumble SEC while winning about NINE games this fall.
"I'm going to pick the Gators to win finish somewhere between fifth and sixth, an win between eight and ten games...maybe about nine. Something like that."
"I think we have a lot of good players, and I think if we can beat Miami the first game and develop some confidence that we are good enough to win, no let's go do it, maybe that will be enough to sustain us throughout the course of the season."
The Hall of Famer won 228 college football games during his legendary career leading Duke, Florida, and South Carolina so he knows how much confidence can do for a group hungry for wins someplace like The Swamp.
If, and that's a big IF, Napier can lead his group to what Spurrier is predicting, and do so with the mounting pressure and national chatter that have followed two disappointing seasons and just one bowl trip (Las Vegas Bowl) he'll have earned a significant contract extension and raise.
The Gators take on Mario Cristobal and Miami to open the season next weekend. Kickoff is at 3:30pm EST.